With DIY bang-cutting disasters and maskne marrying our complexions, 2020 wasn’t the best year for beauty. Thankfully, however, a new year has arrived (bye 2020, bye!) – and now’s the perfect time to shake off last year’s mistakes and shake up your beauty routine!
From the beauty and lifestyle habits to ditch, to the steps you can take to shine brighter than the New Year’s Eve fireworks, here are 12 simple beauty resolutions for 2021. Super easy to incorporate, they deliver major bang for your beauty buck. So, give them a try – we’ve included one for each month of the year.
1. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen – every day!
If you think you don’t need to wear sunscreen on a cloudy winter’s day, think again. UV exposure not only puts you at risk of skin cancer, it’s the number one cause of premature ageing. And, while those burning UVB rays fluctuate, UVA rays – those primarily responsible for wrinkles – are consistently present throughout the year, and able to cut through glass and clouds!
So, to stay safe and maintain a youthful complexion, make sure you wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen that delivers UVA AND UVB protection. 365 days of the year.
2. Drink more water
For smooth, supple, healthy-looking skin, it’s important to hydrate – both inside and out. Drinking water helps to flush out toxins and promote a clear and glowing complexion, so, as well as applying moisturiser morning and night, make sure you’re drinking up! Experts recommend about 8 glasses (2 L) per day for women, however you should also take physical activity and body weight into account.
Pro-tip: If drinking straight H20 feels like a chore, add a twist of lemon or lime, or sip on caffeine-free herbal teas. Yup, they count towards your quota too!
3. Exfoliate regularly for glowing skin!
Our top tip for silky-smooth, radiant skin? Regular exfoliation! Sloughing away dry, dead skin cells promotes a fresher, more even and refined complexion, and helps banish breakouts by preventing clogged pores. Not only that, you’ll get more bang for your skincare buck as active ingredients penetrate more easily. Seriously, what’s not to love?
Gentle on sensitive skin, we love hydroxy-acid based chemical exfoliants for the face, while a sugar scrub is our glow-to below the neck. Depending on your skin type, use 2-3 times weekly for enhanced cellular turnover and smoother, softer skin.
4. Show your body you care
Covered up in non-breathable fabrics, stuck in sweaty gym gear and exposed to hot showers and chlorinated pools, the skin on your body cops a bit of neglect, bordering on abuse – and we say it’s time to show it some love in the new year!
Make 2021 the year you commit to a simple, anti-ageing body care routine. At a bare minimum, use a body scrub once or twice a week, and a body moisturiser each time you shower. However, for truly unBALIevable results, we also recommend adding a detoxifying body masque to the mix to sculpt, lift and firm! You’ll find all 3 in our anti-cellulite, anti-ageing Glow Figure body care range ☺.
5. Make hair masking a weekly ritual
Speaking of rough treatment, let’s take a moment to think about our poor over-processed, over-heat styled strands… Nourishing, strengthening and repairing hair from the inside out, a multi-tasking hair masque is the best way to deliver some intensive care from the comfort of your own home. And it only takes 10 minutes!
To say goodbye to dry locks, frizz and split ends, choose a masque packed with softening, shine-enhancing oils – like the coconut, argan and linseed oils in our Like A Virgin Nourishing Hair Masque! For oily locks, we recommend masquing up once a week; 1-2 times for normal strands; and 2-3 times weekly if your hair is seriously thirsty.
6. Don’t forget your scalp
Dull, oily hair or itchy scalp? It’s time to start incoporating a scalp scrub in your beauty routine! Healthy hair really does start at the scalp and a scalp scrub is the easy way to remove product build up and let your hair’s true beauty shine through.
Used before shampooing 1-2 times a week, our Deep Clean Scalp Scrub sloughs away dead skin cells with volcanic ash and coconut shell, banishes excess oil with hydroxy acids and soothes with peppermint. Meanwhile, coconut oil hydrates and caffeine boosts blood flow for healthy hair growth. So, for cleaner hair and a comfier scalp, don’t forget to scrub-a-dub-dub!
7. Catch more Zs
They don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing! Aside from preventing puffy eyes and dark circles, sleep has countless benefits for our complexion. This is largely because the skin does most of its repair work overnight. Meaning? The more time spent snoozing, the more opportunity there is for collagen production, cellular repair and other important processes to take place.
For a youthful, fresh-faced complexion, aim for 7-9 hours’ quality sleep each night, as recommended by the National Sleep Foundation. Try avoiding caffeine in the evening and turning tech off at least an hour before bedtime if you’re struggling to nod off.
8. Quit sun-baking and perfect your faux glow
If you only make one New Year beauty resolution for 2021, commit to giving up sun tanning – for good! We’ve already told you how dangerous tanning can be, and how it also speeds up the skin ageing process like nobody’s business. Guess what? It also contributes to hyperpigmentation and dry, rough skin. So, given all the downsides, it’s kind of coconuts to keep it up!
Instead, achieve an all-over, natural bronze the healthy way, by using a good-quality self-tanner. To cancel out any orange tones and prevent streaks, go for a formula with a green-grey base and guide colour, like our Sunny Honey Bali Bronzing Foam. Or, for fully customisable, buildable colour for the face, add a few tanning drops to your moisturiser each evening. Too easy!
9. Protect your hair from heat styling
We’re not going to ask you to give up your curling iron, but we insist you use protection. That means applying a heat protectant product every time you style! Ideal for protecting, styling and finishing any type of hair, a hair oil is your haircare cupboard’s MVP.
Protecting hair from heat up to 220°C, our Miracle Hair Elixir hydrates and prevents flyaways and frizz with hyaluronic acid, papaya, mangosteen and coconut oil. Apply before drying or heat-styling hair, or run a few drops through finished locks for a-mane-zing softness and shine.
10. Give body masking a go
ICYMI, body masking was one of the breakout beauty trends of 2020 – and it’s set to be even bigger in 2021! For softer, smoother skin, bouncier booty and boobs and firmer tummy and thighs, try adding a contouring, detoxifying masque with bump-busting ingredients to your body care routine.
Formulated with skin-perfecting technology for a smoother silhouette, our clay-based Glow Figure Bounce Body Masque also features detoxifying volcanic clay to draw out excess oils and impurities and reduce breakouts and redness. Use 2-3 times a week, whenever you need a little less jiggle and a little more lift.
11. Stress less (or at least try!)
2020 was rather stressful, to say the least, and many of you would have noticed the impact on your skin and possibly even your hair. From exacerbating acne and existing skin conditions like psoriasis and rosacea to triggering hair loss, there’s no doubt about it – excessive stress is bad news when it comes to beauty.
Chronic stress is also known to cause inflammation and accelerate ageing, so make stress management a central part of your life this new year! While yoga, meditation and mindfulness can help, so too can simple things like taking deep, centring breaths and indulging in self-care activities like having a soothing bath, being in nature or reading a book.
12. Sit less & move that body more!
Whether it’s due to having a sedentary job or simply being inactive, many people sit more than they should. Sitting too much can have negative effects on health. In fact, it may be linked to an increased risk of overall mortality. Making a resolution to sit less is an easy and attainable resolution that can be tailored to fit your lifestyle.
One great example is exercise. Not only does it help you feel great physically, the endorphins of a good sweat sesh can instantly boost your mood AND give you a serious glow. So, what are you waiting for? Get off the couch and get moving!
Check out more guides & tips here!
Written by: Pip Jarvis
Edited By: Vidhya
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